1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to knitting articles used for facilitating a knitting operation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a knitting yarn guide which is fitted on a knitter's finger for guiding one or more yarns to stabilize the yarn feeding position as required for providing an efficient knitting operation, especially for facilitating pattern formation using two or more yarns of different colors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In knitting a work such as sweater, a yarn or yarns paid out from a yarn source or sources are usually guided over a knitter's forefinger (of the left hand generally) to form stitches by using a pair of knitting needles. Obviously, the yarn must be supplied with a specific orientation relative to the knitting needle in order to facilitate yarn pick-up by the needle tip for forming each stitch. However, when guided manually by the knitter's forefinger, the yarn may displace laterally on the forefinger due to the stitch forming movement of the needle tip and/or the knitter's hands, thus changing the yarn supplying orientation. Further, the yarn comes in direct sliding contact with the forefinger, so that the forefinger may be injured after a long or repeated knitting operation.
To avoid such a problem, there have been proposed various yarn guides each of which includes a mounting portion fittable on a knitter's forefinger, and a yarn guiding means supported on the mounting portion. Typical examples of such yarn guide is disclosed for example in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 62-60278 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-33022.
More specifically, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 62-60278 discloses a yarn guide which comprises a mounting ring fittable on a knitter's forefinger, a base plate fixed on top of the mounting ring, and yarn guide rings fixed on the base plate for slidably guiding yarns. Each yarn guide ring has a split by which the corresponding yarn is introduced into the guide ring.
This prior art yarn guide is disadvantageous in that it requires many separate parts which must be prepared separately and later assembled together, thereby increasing the cost of the yarn guide. For example, the base plate must be welded to the mounting ring, while the yarn guide rings must be individually welded to the base plate. Further, yarn setting relative to the yarn guide rings is trouble because the yarn must be introduced through the narrow split of the guide ring. An attempt to widen the ring split for facilitating the yarn setting operation will result in an increased possibility that the guided yarn may unexpectedly pass through the widened split to come out of the guide ring during the knitting operation.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-33022 discloses a yarn guide which comprises a fingerstall, a row of yarn guide pins mounted on the fingerstall as spaced from each other axially of the fingerstall, and an arm pivotally mounted on the fingerstall by means of a pivot shaft. The arm is arranged in a plane containing the upper ends of the respective yarn guide pins, so that the arm is pivotable in that plane from an open position to a yarn guiding position for contact with the upper ends of the guide pins to define yarn guide passages.
The yarn guide of this Japanese publication provides easier yarn setting than the previously described prior art. However, this yarn guide also requires separate parts, such as fingerstall and arm, which must be prepared separately and later assembled. Further, the arm must be riveted to the shaft, which results in a cost increase.
In use, the fingerstall type yarn guide requires the arm to be pivoted exactly to the yarn guiding position because improper positioning of the arm may cause unexpected removal of the guided yarn. Further, since the arm is supported only at the pivot shaft, the arm may be easily pivoted out of the yarn guiding position by contact with an external object. Moreover, the fingerstall provides an awkward feel when manipulating the knitting needle.